Helvetica is 50 today

Where would we be without a great font like Helvetica? This classic typeface started life as Neue Haas Grotesk, but thankfully it was renamed in 1960 after the Latin name for Switzerland, Helvetia.

This is a typeface you’d take home to meet your Mother, it’s dependable, solid, no-nonsense. No wonder it’s been used by some of the biggest brands in history. Orange, American Airlines, 3M, Currys, Toyota and many, many more.

Helvetica has inspired a whole book called Homage to a Typeface and an upcoming film has been devoted to it’s clean, uncluttered loveliness. It’s all a bit much really.

Now if you want my opinion, I’m a Gill Sans man!